Ameraucana thread for posting pictures and discussing our birds

[Lark Rise]

Here are my 3 week old wheaten/blue wheaten ameraucanas.
Here are my guesses:

5 boys and 6 girls. Though # 3 is larger than all of the others, could it be a splash roo?

#2, #9, #11 are wheaten roos

#4, #10 are blue wheaten roos

#3 is big so...????

#1, #5, #6, #7, #8 are girls

I'd love to hear anyone's input. I don't mind being corrected.

Thanks!!

 

[Ksane]

Jerry, I just hatched some Brown Red and White from you I got from Ebay, I'm totally in love with these sweet responsive babies. Emailing you right this second to get more.

edited by staff

 

[Christie Rhae]

The friendliest chicks I ever hatched were plymouth rocks. Right away they would run toward me when I put my hand in the brooder. Never scared of me for a minute. They grew up into the biggest bratty bullies. I had to butcher the roosters. They were just incredibly aggressive and had no fear of me at all. The hen I still have but she is very mean to everyone else and pecks at my feet the whole time I am in her pen.
I think I like my birds to have a healthy amount of respect for me.
Seems like most chicks are always skittish when they are small. I am sure nature made them that way just to ensure their survival. A lot of things want to eat little chicks. lol. My birds always calm down as they get older and realize that I am the bringer of the goodies. I don't keep my chickens as pets to cuddle with. I don't let my 4 year old daughter hold chicks very often. Only with extreme supervision. I am afraid the chicks will get hurt. lol! I have cats and dogs for the kids to cuddle.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Ok, I'm finally caught up. A couple of quick observations & comments...

Lark Rise, I think you're spot on with your assessment. Can't tell for sure on the BW's but my guess is you're correct. One small correction to your post - those birds would be "cockerels" vice "roosters".

Secondly, wrt to the various discussions on true Ameraucanas vice EE's, whoever wrote the post about hatcheries selling Ameraucanas & therefore many subsequently do the same unknowingly passing on the misinformation - you're spot on as well. That's where the vast majority of the problem lies.

WRT to what constitutes a true Ameraucana, I would disagree that Am x Am = Am in all cases. In order for an Ameraucana to be considered an Ameraucana it must breed true. A Black Ameraucana, for example, crossed to any other variety would not breed true and is therefore an EE. I can't speak absolutely authoritatively but I imagine this holds true with other breeds as well. For example a Buff Orpington crossed to a Black Orpington I imagine would not be considered an Orpington either. But that's a guess. All I know is that the Ameraucana must breed true within the genetics of it's authorized/approved variety.

WRT to the Ameraucana's temperament, I can only speak in reference to the WBS variety. I have never had a W, BW, or SW that I would consider as overly flighty. They're certainly not like my Buckeyes which are without a doubt the friendliest chicks and adults I've ever owned. The Buckeye chicks will literally run over to your hand if you put it into the brooder whereas my other breeds will run away from my hand - the Ameraucanas included.

I have found that the degree of flightiness is directly proportional to the amount of time I or someone else spends with them. If they are handled a lot as chicks, they are a lot less flightly. I have my brooder for Day Olds to about Week Olds in the living room. This allows them to be subjected to a lot of folks walking by on a continual basis and often being handled too. From there they go to a couple brooders in the pumphouse where they don't get so much attention. And from there they are transferred to chickhouses after a couple more weeks. They are definitely more flighty in the pumphouse brooders and chickhouses.

Having said that, about once a year I'll get 10 years or so of my life taken off when one of my juvenile Ameraucanas will fly up out of nowhere and land on my shoulder. Thus far the Ameraucanas are the only breed I've ever had do that.

God Bless,

 

[Lrkel]

Some day I'll figure out how to post in the right section...sigh. These are my 7 week old Ameraucana. I'm pretty sure the black one is a cockerel because of the way he acts. He jumps at me when I stick my hand in the box to fill up the water and food. He can be quite mean to the others too. I've named him Mr Hyde. The other two I think are pullets but not sure yet. I have been told that the second one is a lavender. The head is getting darker now so I'm wondering if it might be a lighter blue? How can I tell the difference? The other blue is much darker. The parents were a blue and a black roo over a splash hen and several lighter hens like the second one. I ended up hatching 1 black, 1 blue, and 5 of the light color.

 

[pips&peeps]

I see two cockerels and a blue pullet there. No lavenders.

 

[Lrkel]

Thanks for the input! Ok that's what I originally thought until I got a couple comments on a prior post. So they are just different shades of blue then? I noticed the lightest one's hackle feathers are longer then the other two. Is that a dependable sign at this age that it's a cockerel or are you going off combs?

 

[pips&peeps]

combs

below are lavenders, see the difference in color?

 

[pips&peeps]

triple post....

 

[pips&peeps]

oops